She-bear
by CosetteUnique
Summary: Lorraine Mormont is forced to leave Bear Island and is to be betrothed to Lord Addam Marbrand, the new Lord of Storm's End. While talk of her 'unnatural abilities' start to spread, she meets an armorer's apprentice named Gendry, who appears to be more than meets the eye. Without realizing it at first, she soon becomes a player in the Game of Thrones (Rated T, might become M later)
1. Chapter 1: Lorraine

p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;" align="center"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;"Chapter 1: Lorraine/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"With my arms crossed I stubbornly stared at some of my broken fingernails, ignoring the glare that my Septa was giving me. The carriage swayed as it followed the curve in the road from Bronzegate to Storm's End. She made me ride the carriage for the last day of our journey because, naturally, I couldn't show up dressed as some dirty commoner who had just went out riding in the dirt. I've ridden on Whirlwind for the greatest part of our journey down to the south, which I had no objection to./p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Look my lady, Storm's End is in sight,'' my Septa said with an admiring gaze. She probably didn't mind trading the cold of Bear Island for the warm South. Well I did. Even though the people on Bear Island have never been very kind to me for obvious reasons, it was still my home. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I looked out the window and saw a large keep rising up from the distance, it was situated on a large firm island which was connected to the mainland with a sturdy bridge. The keep was surrounded by walls in which were many houses and a castle which housed the current Lord of Storm's End. Lord Addam Marbrand. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Storm's End was granted to him by House Lannister to hold. His father Damon Marbrand had insisted his son marry someone from the North, someone to patch up the wounds that the war had left behind. Most young ladies had been married off during the war to make alliances, leaving almost none. But because I had spent a year on my presumed deathbed, I had been spared the horror, since they had doubted that I would survive./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I was surprised that they had decided to marry me off in the first place. Most of the time they tried to keep my existence under covers or pretend that I didn't have these ''unnatural urges'', as they would call them. I grabbed the window latch and closed it to take a deep breath. I was about to lose my freedom today. Within the walls of that keep, my new husband was waiting for me. House Mormont was sworn to the Starks, not the Lannisters. It still pained me when my aunt had told me about this arrangement, how could they change allegiance so easily? Something told me that something more was going on, but they simply chose not to tell me. There had to be a reason, some hidden agenda. Or maybe it was just me trying to convince myself that my family had not gone mad./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Are you frightened my lady? You need not worry, I heard he is a decent man.'' I looked up to my Septa with a mocking grin on my face. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''If he's not, I'll stick my knife between his ri-'' I started but my Septa interrupted me immediately. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I will have no such talk! If you do such a thing you will bring the kingdom back to war again, now is that what you want?!'' She disapproved of the manly ways I had, by that I mean not behaving like a proper lady. My Septa wasn't from the North and did not understand the ways of House Mormont. Bear Island was a place where women were taught to fight and fought side by side with the men. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The carriage started to shake, letting me know that we must be riding on the bridge into Storm's End. My Septa straightened the way too tight dark green coloured dress that I was wearing./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Lorraine, will you please act like a proper lady for just this once?'' she begged me as the carriage started to slow down. I sighed and nodded slightly. The sooner I would please her, the faster she would leave me alone and give me a chance to sneak away. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I didn't even bother to check myself in the mirror, I would already know what I would see; green daring eyes, long untamed brown locks falling past my shoulders and an uncontrollable amount of light coloured freckles spread across my nose and cheeks./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"When the door to our carriage opened I made my way outside and squeezed my eyes shut slightly while they were adjusting to broad daylight. In front of me was a stone paved road, leading up to the stairs which gave entrance to the keep. On the stairs stood a neatly arranged line of people; the court of Storm's End that were there to receive me. As I started my walk towards the stairs I saw the man standing in the middle, with red hair up to his shoulders and a slight stubble on his jaw. He had a stern look on his face and had the body that any average young man would have had. Well I had to say that it could have been a lot worse./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"On both sides of the road smallfolk were watching me, whispering to each other. So even here they would talk about me behind my back. I heard words such as ''monster'', ''bear'', ''sick'' and ''skinchanger'' as I passed by. I chose not to reply to them as was expected of a lady. As I approached the bottom of the stairs I caught a glimpse of a young man with incredibly blue eyes, grease smeared on his face and arm muscles that any sane man would be jealous of. When the young man realized he was staring at me for too long he lowered his gaze to his feet and didn't look back. /spanspan lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I continued my walk up the steps until the ginger haired Lord Addam Marbrand was right in front of me./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" span style="background: white;"'My ladies, it is an honour and a pleasure to receive you at Storm's End,' the man said to me and my Septa, who was standing behind me, and offered his hand to me. As my brain started to calculate which shady line I could throw at him I heard my Septa cough softly. I grimaced and offered Lord Addam my hand. He kissed it quickly. /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Thank you- my lord.''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Let me be your guide and make sure you settle in nicely. You must be exhausted from the journey.''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He wasted no time and walked through the gates in a quick paced manner, which wasn't easy to keep up with in this ridiculously long dress. Seven Hells, how was I going to turn this piece of stern rock into a husband which I could live with?/span/p 


	2. Chapter 2: Gendry

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Chapter 2: Gendry/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"My muscles tensed as I beat down on the shield that I was working on for some Hedge Knight. When he dealt with my master he claimed that he was some Blackfyre descendant and that we should be honoured to forge his shield. He tried to persuade my master into giving it to him for free, as ''the debt would be repaid in tenfold''. Knowing my master, named Pudsey, well- he refused and demanded the usual price of silver./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"My muscles tensed as I lifted the hammer and brought it down on the orange-glowing steel. The crackling of the searing hot oven made the heat rise up to the roof, and escaped via the sides. The forge was connected to the small backhouse and had no walls, just a roof to keep us dry when we worked. This gave me a clear view of the market square, just fifty feet away from our forge. The town folk went about their daily business, selling bread and fish in the marketplace. It was a lot busier compared to usual./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Seven Hells Gendry, you still here?'' I looked up at my master and shrugged my shoulders. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''The She-bear is about to arrive. Come on young lad,'' he said and signed that I was expected to put my hammer down and join him./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Master Pudsey was an old man, a done man to be honest. He taught me a great deal about how to craft weapons and armor and was about as kind as a master could be to an apprentice, especially compared to my previous master in King's Landing, Tobho Mott./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I lived a simple life here, I had a roof over my head during the night and got two meals per day. I was happy here. Secretly I hoped Master Pudsey would leave the forge to me after his passing. I could build a life for myself- forge weapons for real knights and lords, make some coin and lead a comfortable life. That was all I wanted./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''What exactly are you hoping to see?'' I asked master Pudsey as we joined the crowds towards the gates of the keep. Master Pudsey laughed in excitement, ''Who knows- she might turn into a bear, right before our eyes and eat the whole lot of us. Maybe even Lord Marbrand,'' he joked. I made a hushing sound, making sure he wouldn't speak too loud. If the guards would hear him, he would be in for a good whipping./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"People were standing on their toes, trying to get a clear view of what was about to unfold before the doors of the keep. My height granted me a perfect view, looking over most people in the crowd with ease. When the carriage door opened and a young lady dressed in a green gown exited the carriage people started to whisper, most in disappointment. She had no bearskin or claws at the ends of her fingertips./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"As she started making her way towards the large steps to the keep, the guards made way for her. She must have been able to hear the whispers, but seemed to pretend she didn't hear them. As she started to walk closer to where I was standing I was able to make out her long brown locks, falling playfully past her shoulders. When I noticed the many light freckles that decorated her cheeks, I saw her looking straight into my eyes. Hers were green, like one of the dark forests you would find in the North. There was a certain wildness, adventurous feel to be found in her eyes which made me curious. When I realized that I had been staring at her for too long, I quickly turned my gaze away and looked at my shoes, as she just looked away as well./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Well that was disappointing,'' master Pudsey mumbled as lady Lorraine walked up the steps to greet her new style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"After court disappeared behind the doors of the keep, people quickly lost interest and scurried off, back to their business. I decided to do the same and put the she-bear lady out of my mind. If I had learned anything in the past few years, it was that you should stick to your own business, otherwise it would only get you into trouble./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"As soon as we returned to the forge I picked up the work where I had left it. When I finished the shield that I was working on master Pudsey joined me to help me forging arrowheads, by far the most boring work you could be doing in a forge. While he let air into the oven to mend the fire and produced searing hot steel pieces for me every few minutes, I beat them into shape and sharpened them on the wheel. A giggle drew my attention, causing me to briefly look up from my work. Maeve./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Hi Gendry, what do you think of my new dress?'' Maeve was a girl with long red curls and a body which produced enough ''male interest'' on a daily basis. She smiled at me with a tempting wink as she twirled and walked backwards towards the market, waiting for my response./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Very pretty,'' I mumbled and looked back at the arrowhead I was sharpening./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''You should see what's underneath it,'' she called out before she disappeared in the crowd./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I softly mumbled a, ''Seven Hells,'' shook my head and returned to my work./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''You can't keep running away from those maidens forever. Blimey- I would've killed to be in your shoes at your age, you could have fucked half the town by now,'' Pudsey exclaimed as he stirred the steel above the fire./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I couldn't say that he was wrong. I could have fucked half the girls in this town by now. Only I had chosen not to, even though I had my needs as well. The idea of fathering some child and having it lead a life like I did as a child was a horrible thing to do. My mother had been kind, but died when I was younger and I hadn't found out who my father was until after he had already died. The late King Robert Baratheon. I wanted none of the opportunities that he had left me. I was a bastard and was happy to be so. I would be better off leaving the scheming and backstabbing to the lords and ladies of Westeros./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"As I cooled a load of arrowheads in a bucket of cold water I caught a glimpse of two young boys running across the street. I recognized Hayden and Hunter. They both held a wooden stick and tried to fight each other in something which should supposedly look like a swordfight. I glanced sideways to see if there are any guards around and made my way towards the boys./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''If you boys aren't careful, Lord Marbrand will have both of you whipped for disturbance of the peace,'' I said and watched the boys seize their swordplay to look at me. Hunter nodded as the other boy took his chance and hit him on his hip with his wooden stick. Within seconds they had resumed their swordplay and were running frantically across the yard./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I sighed and shook my head in disbelief. Gendry, it is not your problem. As I turned to walk back to the forge I clashed headfirst against someone else. I easily kept my posture, but saw the other person falling to the ground. I quickly mumbled an apology before I saw that it was a girl who I had run into. She wore a simple dress, covered with a thin green leather fabric that seemed perfect for riding a horse./span/p 


	3. Chapter 3: Lorraine

p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;" align="center"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Chapter 3: Lorraine/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"As Addam stiffly offered me his arm, it took a glare from my Septa for me to accept his arm. As we entered the keep we were followed by his housekeeping and other lords and ladies who were guests at Storm's End. As the doors to the keep closde behind us a small square opened up to us with several pathways leading to smaller buildings. Right ahead of us was a high and large tower which hosted the Granary, the armoury, the barracks, the feast hall and the noble quarters./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"When we reached the third floor of the tower we entered the feast hall. It was robust, like the rest of the keep, and looked very empty and undecorated except from a flag hanging above the high chairs; the burning tree of House Marbrand. My eyes lingered more upwards noticing a large stone stag's head sticking out of the wall. There were slight marks and dents around the edges, indicating that Lord Marbrand had probably tried to have it removed, with no luck. I found my mouth forming into something that resembled an amusing grin before Lord Marbrand coughed to gain my attention./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''My lady,'' he said and signed back towards the steps. I wasn't sure if he had tracked the amusement on my face, though I wished that he did. House Mormont has always been sworn to the Starks of Winterfell, and we had remained loyal even after the War of the Five Kings. The fact that I was about to marry a Marbrand, whose house was sworn to the Lannisters, had not been greatly appreciated by the people from Bear Island, including me. I honestly didn't know why I was forced to do this, but something deep inside my bones told me there was more to this than what they were telling me. As we continued our climb up the stairs Lord Marbrand moved to walk in front of me and didn't take an effort to look back./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I've heard disturbing stories about you my lady, I trust they aren't true?'' he asked bluntly as if he was trying to make sure he wasn't marrying some monster who would turn into a bear on their wedding night. Gods, if only I could./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Oh I cannot tell you my lord, for surely the small folk talk of so many things that it's hard to know what you mean, my lord,'' I said with a sweet honed voice, daring him to ask what he actually meant. We reached the top of the stairs and walked through a small hallway./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I could almost hear him grunt, ''I'm talking about the stories of- you doing unnatural things. Bear-like things,'' he said in a slightly uncomfortable and annoyed tone. He stopped walking and stood still in front of a room, the door wide open./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''My lord- surely some tales of a She-bear will not scare you?'' I asked, making him cock up his right eyebrow./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Of course not my lady.''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Naturally my lord. Bears rarely attack, but the thing is- sometimes they do. And if they want to get to you- they can,'' I said right before I entered the room and closed the door right in front of his face. My family might be able to force me to marry someone, but that didn't mean I was going to make it easy for anyone./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I took my time to look around the room that was going to be my new home. It was bigger than the one I had had on Bear Island. There were red decorated shutters in front of the window, blocking some of the sunlight. Behind them the Narrow Sea was clearly visible. On the table stood a small statue of the Seven Gods. I snorted and put it in the corner next to my chamber pot. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"As soon as my new handmaiden named Mary, a thirteen-year-old girl with a huge bush of curly blond hair, had left after helping me settling in, I looked up some of my old riding clothes. A faded white riding dress with a green coloured leather bodice. In a city like this it made me look like a commoner./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"After putting it on, I opened the window and skilfully allowed my body to hang from the windowpane before I climbed down the tower from the seaside, preventing the guards from seeing me climbing down. As I reached the window of the granary I let my body slide through, ending up in the kitchen where people were busy preparing dinner. I casually grabbed an apple and walked out of the kitchen. I had learned through experience that pretending that you belong somewhere was the best way to get around unknowingly./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"As I made my way out of the tower, through the gates of the keep and into town I observed the people going about their daily business. To my right stood two whipping benches, clear for everyone to see. The people seemed more quiet than Northerners, which supposedly had something to do with guards eyeing people on every corner of the street and the whipping benches. As I made my way to the marketplace it started to get more crowded./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I grinned as two smaller boys ran past me, pretending to be in a sword fight using two wooden sticks. Seeing them at swordplay made me miss my own sword which I was forced to leave at home. I would make sure to try and obtain a new one here because a bear without claws between a group of lions was not something that could lead to anything good./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Lost in thought, I barely noticed a young man separating the boys. It took only one smack for them to resume their fight. I grinned, it reminded me of my sword practice with Lyanna. That was before they locked me in my room for being ''sick''. As I turned I felt someone bumping into me and, unable to keep my balance, I fell to the ground./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''So sorry, didn't see you there,'' I heard a man's voice mumble. I shrugged it off and stood up again now seeing the man that was staring back at me. I immediately recognized his bright blue eyes; it was the man who I had seen between the crowd as I took to the steps towards the keep earlier that day. Only this time I was able to see the rest of him as well. His upper body was completely bare, sweaty and dirty. It didn't take long for me to look back at the forge behind him./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Do I know you?'' he asked as he most probably noticed my stare, realizing I was looking him up and down. For the first time in years, my cheeks flushed. It didn't take me long to decide that he was interesting./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Not yet,'' I smiled and looked towards the forge, ''-do you make swords as well?''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He chuckled, ''You- are interested in swords? You couldn't beat one of these two little rascals if they had their arms tied behind their backs.'' Headshaking, he headed back to the forge. I stared at him, offended by what he just said. I crossed my arms like some child who didn't get her way and followed him back to his forge./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I could beat both of them with my hands behind my back, just like I can beat you,'' I said with a cocky smile. He just laughed and started putting away some tools without really looking up, clearly not taking me seriously. I looked at some of the swords that hung on the walls, they looked like decent forged steel./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''If I beat you, will you forge me a sword?'' I asked in a demanding voice, still feeling offended by his earlier comment. He put the tools he was holding down and looked at me again. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Are you serious?''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I bluntly looked back at him. He sighed. I knew he was going to give in. But given the fact that we couldn't have a fight here, in front of the guards, we'd have to find some other place to do it./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Great, I'll see you tonight then,'' I said, not giving him a chance to speak out or object. Part of me couldn't wait to give him a couple of good bruises that would help him think more clearly, the other part of me just wanted to see him again./span/p 


	4. Chapter 4: Gendry

p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;" align="center"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Chapter 4: Gendry/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Great, I'll see you tonight then,'' she said before turning her back towards me and walking away, not giving the slightest of a chance to study her stubborn face again. I still had a confused frown on my face as she disappeared between the crowd. I scratched my neck, as I did more often when I was confused or unsure about something that had happened or that I had to do./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Women,'' I grumbled, putting my thoughts aside and finished putting all my tools away before heading inside the house./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Master Pudsey's house was small, but didn't underdo for the other houses surrounding us. The communal area had a table with chairs, some cupboards holding food and a small self-crafted steel fireplace. There was a door to master Pudsey's bedroom and a smaller one on its left which led to my room, which was nothing more but an old bed, a small chest filled with some clothes and a washing basin standing right next to my bed on the floor. It was simple but useful./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I stripped down and took some time to wash the dirt and sweat from my body. When I opened the chest that held all my stuff and grabbed the last set of clothes on the bottom of the chest, I saw the warhammer that I had forged not so long ago. It had a hooked spike on one end, four smaller ones on the other end and a spear point on the top of it. There were no imprints or patterns on the sides of the warhammer./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Even though I had absolutely no intentions of following in my father's footsteps or wanting anything of what he had had, he had spiked my interest in warfare. It was widely known that he had had a warhammer which he used in battle to smash his enemies. I had never swung one before, and since there wasn't exactly one laying around, I had decided to forge one myself. Master Pudsey did not know, and I had no intention of telling him. Even the slightest hint of whom I actually was, could cost me my life or start another rebellion or war. I stood out enough as it is, with my raven black hair just like his, and bright blue eyes also just like his. It was one of the reasons that I had never let my beard get any longer than a slight stubble, since I would look too much like him. Besides his fat body of course./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I closed the chest, locking the warhammer away from my sight. If I was going to fight that idiotic bold girl with my hammer, she would surely not live to tell the tale. I could not help feeling that I knew her from somewhere, if only she had given me a better chance to look./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Master Pudsey and I had some food in the tavern across the street named The Fat Falcon. Maeve, the well-curved girl who had tried to grab my attention for the past couple of weeks now, was working tonight and clearly made an effort to finally turn my head towards her. And I had to say- it worked. Her dress had been unbuttoned in such a way that her boobs were on the brink of popping out and were bouncing around as she manoeuvred between all the guests./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''You are mad lad, I would have killed to suck on teats like that,'' Pudsey said as the beer he was clumsily drinking was dripping into his beard. I grinned and shook my head./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Well go on- have a go at her,'' I grinned and looked at Maeve from a distance. Pudsey chuckled and turned his head back to his bowl of stew. I wondered if that girl was going to show up to my forge tonight. For all I knew, she might not even show up. She had big words for such a petite girl, so maybe she'd chicken out realizing it was a lost cause./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"After making my way back home and waiting for a while sitting by the door, I was about to go to bed when I heard footsteps and saw the girl turning around the corner. She hopped on top of one of the workbenches across from me and sat down as if this was her own place. Before I was able to say anything she cut me off and cut right to the chase./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''So do you have practice swords, blunt ones? I would not want to hurt you,'' she said with an overly confident grin. I cocked up my eyebrow./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Are you serious?''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''What?'' She shrugged her shoulders. I recognized a Northern accent./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I am an armorers' apprentice. Of course there are no blunt swords, everything is sharpened,'' I said and grabbed two bastard swords, one of which she should be able to lift with those thin arms of hers. When I looked at her I noticed the rest of her body was quite slim as well. Her waist looked tiny, most probably because she had strapped a brown leather belt around it quite tightly. She showed quite some cleavage in the green leather bodice that covered the upper part of her body./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Well are you coming?''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I looked up and saw that she had already gotten up and was walking towards the town's exit. I followed her, holding the two swords in my hand as we walked out of the gate, leaving the safety of the city's walls./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Hey- little princess, how do you suppose we get back inside?'' I asked with an annoyed tone in my voice. It was if she didn't think anything through. A good beating might straighten her out./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''You're from around here, are you not? Don't tell me you do not know some different way in?'' she asked as we crossed the bridge towards the road and the forest./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I might be from here, but you are definitely not. Where are you from?'' I asked as she lead us through a maze of trees. I immediately knew that she had no idea of where she was taking me./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"She didn't reply to my question and kept on walking. The sky was emblazed with dark blue colours, some stars managed to shine through the thick clouds that hid most of the moonlight. She kept walking until we reached an open spot, which I knew wasn't far from the sea. I could tell by the wind and the smell of salt./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"She stood opposite of me, looking at me with a rebellious and adventurous look on her face. I stepped a bit closer, recognizing the green shades in her eyes that seemed to blend in with our surroundings./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Well pass me that sword will you?'' she said as she took it from my hand and turned her back on me to study the sword in the dim moonlight. She mumbled something that sounded like a compliment which made my lips form into the shape of a smile./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"When she turned she had a dangerous look in her eyes and I knew the battle would begin. She didn't take much time to study me and pressed an attack immediately. I stumbled back a bit, slightly overwhelmed with the precision in her movements, knowing exactly where to try and strike me./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I know who you are,'' I muttered while pointing my sword towards her./span/p 


	5. Chapter 5: Lorraine

p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;" align="center"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Chapter 5: Lorraine/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I might be from here, but you are definitely not. Where are you from?'' I ignored his question as I kept on moving, my eyes fixed on an open spot in the distance. It seemed he realized that he wasn't going to get an answer for me, so he stopped asking. As soon as we got to the open spot I halted and turned around to face him. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I couldn't wait to have a sword in my hand again. It wasn't my favourite weapon since I was still better skilled with a longbow because it had always been more useful to me on Bear Island. I noticed he was staring at me, which made me slightly uncomfortable. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Well, pass me that sword, will you?'' I said quickly and daftly snatched the sword from his left hand. I held it up to the moonlight and studied it for a moment. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Seven hells,'' I muttered softly as I studied the well forged sword which looked daftly crafted compared to most swords that I had seen on Bear Island. I instantly decided that I absolutely had to win this battle, because he would forge me a sword if I would win. I knew I could just buy one as well, but when a common girl showed up with a large amount of silver, people would start asking questions and questions were the last thing that I needed. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I decided to go for the surprise element and without much more thought on the matter, I swiftly turned around and pressed the first attack. My sword swung dangerously close past his arm, missing him by just a couple of inches. The flustered look on his face which showed that he was taken aback, brought a smile on mine. He took in a deep breath and focused his bright blue eyes and his sword on me now. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I know who you are,'' he said in a simple tone before pressing an attack on me. Taken aback by his comment I nearly lost my balance, but managed to stay on my feet. I blocked his next attack with my sword against his. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I don't know what you're talking about,'' I said with a cold look on my face. He chuckled, pushed his body weight forwards, causing his sword to press down mine. He was much stronger than I was, which was clearly visible by just taking a quick glance at his arm muscles. I twirled backwards to avoid his sword and prevent myself from being pushed to the ground. He didn't take long to continue his attack, and even though he said that he knew whom I was, it didn't seem like he was holding back or was afraid to hurt me./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''You are a bad liar,'' he said with an amused grin on his face. I breathed out through my nose, annoyed that he had seen through my cover so easily. I moved forward to give him a flurry of attacks, making him walk backwards until he almost reached the edge of the treeline./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I tried to strike low, going for his upper leg but was immediately punished for exposing my arms this low. He used the flat side of his sword to smack my arms down and with a harsh push he pushed me backwards onto the ground. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Surrender, m'lady.'' He stood over me, pressing the point of his sword into my leather bodice. His grin made me want to smack it of off his face. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''For fuck's sake,'' I grumbled and let go of the sword hilt, allowing it to fall on the ground. He grinned even more and held out his hand to me to help me get up./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I can manage fine by myself, thank you,'' I snapped and crawled back up by myself. I was very annoyed by the fact that he had defeated me so easily. He chuckled, shook his head and picked up my sword, calmly plucking some dirt and grass from the hilt. With the two swords under his arm he started moving towards the cliffs which separated land from water. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Well are you coming? There is no way you're getting back inside the city walls now through the main gate,'' he said and looked back at me, waiting for me to join him./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"For fuck's sake. I sighed and decided it would be best to follow him. We both kept silent as he led me down a steep path that was embedded in the cliffs, which soon went back up again, moving towards the city. He didn't look back once to see if I was still there. If he knew who I was, why did he not care what happened to me? Curiosity took the better of me./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''How did you know?''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He focussed on the steep path while we made our way up towards the city's walls and didn't look backwards as he talked./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Don't worry m'lady, other people won't notice that easily,'' he sighed as we neared the top of the path and ended up right next to the city walls. He seemed to be looking for an entrance as we started to circle the walls to the right. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''But how did yo-'' I started to ask but he interrupted me and turned around to give me an annoyed look that clearly showed that he wasn't very patient with me./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Listen. You will only cause trouble for the smallfolk. Lord Marbrand is tough enough as it is, and it won't help when you start mixing with people like me. So, do us all a favour and stay in that keep. There's a reason why lords and ladies don't mix with the common people,'' he said in a harsh voice which clearly indicated that there was more to what he was saying than what he was letting on. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''M'lady,'' he added to take some of the harshness out of the words that he had spoken. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''And if I don't want to?'' I stubbornly asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Then I'll tell on you.''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I laughed so loud that he had to hush me down for the guards not to hear. If he truly thought that he would be able to drag me down that way, he should know that I would drag him down with me. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''If you do, I'll make sure Lord Marbrand knows who the person was that dragged me out of the city walls to challenge me to a duel,'' I said./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He squeezed his eyes at me, anger flushing on his face. He shot me a glare before turning around and swearing to himself and muttering that I was likely to get him killed. A smile played on my lips because I knew that I had won. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Muttering to himself, he found a side entrance and exchanged words with a single guard who let us in. He led me through some side streets until we reached the marketplace and we walked back towards his forge. He didn't seem to plan on exchanging any more conversations because he headed for his front door with an angry look on his style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Goodnight m'lady,'' he grumbled as he was about to shut the door. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Wait,'' I quickly said, feeling slightly guilty for blackmailing him like this. He halted seeming annoyed but somehow forced to listen to me./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''What's your name?'' For a moment, I thought that he wasn't going to tell me./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''It's Gendry,'' he muttered before he went inside and shut the door. /span/p 


	6. Chapter 6: Gendry

p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;" align="center"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Chapter 6: Gendry/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"It had been days since I had seen Lorraine. Maybe she had actually heeded my advice and stayed inside the keep like I told her to. But keeping in mind that she didn't exactly act like a lady- she probably hadn't. At least she wasn't troubling me anymore./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Master Pudsey passed me a pint of ale right before he sat down to play a game of Cyvasse with some captain of a trading galley. I wasn't sure whether my master knew all the rules, but it didn't seem to stop him. I calmly studied my surroundings observing two men that were having a drinking contest, some men trying to charm some of the taverns wenches and two people going at it in a dark corner next to the bar. Somehow I loved the shamelessness and bluntness that The Fat Falcon had. In here everyone was equal- no matter if you were a guard, a whore or a sailor. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I've been waiting for you to show up here,'' I recognized Maeve's voice immediately. I looked up from my pint to see the red-haired girl holding a large jug of ale. She wore a dress with a very tight waist corset that almost made her tits pop out of her dress. I wondered how many men have stuck their faces between those boobs, probably everyone except me. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Before I was able to reply to her, she was filling up my pint, making sure to lean over, giving me full view of her cleavage. Feeling slightly uncomfortable for a moment, I diverted my eyes, catching a glimpse of a long brown-haired girl jugging a pint of ale while she was being cheered on loudly. When she slammed the empty pint down on the bar and looked sideways to her mates I recognized her immediately. It was Lorraine./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Seven hells- what was she doing here?! She was supposed to be inside the keep. I had to refrain myself from approaching her and giving her a speech. I would only get myself into trouble style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanIf she wasn't going to listen to me, it was her that was going to be in trouble, not me. She was just a stubborn little lady that wanted the things she didn't have. Spoiled little brat. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I saw her looking over her shoulder, catching my eye. Her gaze switched to Maeve, who shamelessly sat down on my lap. She turned her gaze back to the men surrounding her and signed to the barman for another pint. Maeve's hand travelled over my arm, stopping to feel my arm muscles. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Oh Gendry- you feel so tense, I should give that a good kneading,'' she whispered in my ear seductively. I chuckled and let my arm slide around her waist, all the while looking in Lorraine's direction. She was being cheered on by the men around her and was lifted on top of the bar next to Jane, the daughter of the tavern owner. They both twirled five circles before clinging their mugs together and jugging their pints of ale. Lorraine finished hers first and cheered with an enormous grin on her face. I had to chuckle slightly. It wasn't strange that nobody knew who she really was- she wasn't anything like a style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I felt Maeve's lips trailing along the skin in my neck, which was still not enough to draw my attention away from Lorraine. Lorraine and Jane were carried down from the bar, Lorraine being lifted straight down on the lap of a sailor. His dirty hand travelled past her waist to her leg and upwards. I felt Maeve's hand turn my face towards hers while she suggestively proposed that we should meet tonight. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"My attention was turned by a loud scream and a thud coming from the direction of the bar. I looked back towards the bar and saw Lorraine laying on the floor and the sailor roaring, a knife sticking in his hand. Lorraine got up before another man tried to give her the first punch. She punched him in his stomach and tried to sneak past the man to reach for an empty jug. Before she could reach it, she was pulled back harshly. The sailor grabbed both her arms and held her as she kicked and screamed, trying to hit anyone that was surrounding her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I pushed Maeve off of my lap and headed for the bar, hitting the man who was about to hit Lorraine in the stomach. The man stumbled back, crashing into the bar with a loud thud. Lorraine managed to escape from the sailors' arms, but instead of running away she turned around and kicked him right in his balls. Was she trying to get raped or something?! I had to deal quite some punches before I saw a chance to grab her by her waist and forcefully carry her out of the Fat Falcon by force. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Let me go! I wasn't done yet!'' she protested as I refused to put her down and escort her back towards the keep. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Now are you trying to get yourself raped or something?!'' I asked with a clear tone of annoyance in my voice. How did she manage to cause trouble everywhere that she went?/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''No- I was just trying to have fun, just like you were,'' she protested, clearly referencing to Maeve, and started struggling and bumping her fists on my back. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Yeah I was,'' I stubbornly said. I sighed loudly and let go of her. She was breathing heavily and somehow didn't seem to have a scratch on her. She looked furious. I wasn't sure if it was because of the fight, me carrying her out or maybe- just maybe she was jealous of Maeve. No, probably not. She was still a lady. Her angry facial expression suddenly changed into a worried one./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''You're bleeding,'' she said, looking at my forehead. I hadn't even felt the blood before she told me. That sailor must have punched me quite hard. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''It's just a scratch,'' I mumbled./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Let me clean it, or it'll get infected.''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''If I let you, will you go back to the keep afterwards?'' I asked with a sigh. She nodded immediately. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Fine then.'' /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I led her back to the forge. The roaring and laughter from the tavern died down behind us and made room for silence. I led her into the house, knowing that I shouldn't. I felt slightly embarrassed as she saw the tiny space Pudsey and I lived in, but she didn't seem to notice or to care./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanIn silence, she sat me down on my bed, grabbed a cloth, drenched it in water and started cleaning the wound on my forehead. Her green eyes looked focussed and determined. I wanted to say something to her, I just didn't know what. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I'm sorry for getting you into trouble, again,'' she mumbled quietly. I chuckled slightly and allowed myself to smile a little./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Yes- you do seem to have a talent for it.'' She laughed, got up, drenched the cloth again and sat back in front of me to rub off some of the blood on my forehead. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Tell me about it, it's one of the reasons why barely anyone knew I existed in the first place, until my father was killed,'' she said as if though it didn't pain her to think of those memories at all./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''That must have been awful,'' I said, again not really knowing what to say. She chuckled as if it was obvious, which it probably was. I have never been good at keeping a conversation going. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Well- he was lord commander of the Night's Watch, so it's not like I expected him to survive for very long. It was when my brother Jorah was caught for selling slaves that they needed someone from my father's direct bloodline. Naturally- I wasn't fit to rule Bear Island, so I'm being married off instead.''/span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Because of the rumours?'' I asked bluntly. She looked up at me and cocked up an eyebrow./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Oh let me guess- when the moon rises I turn into a bloodthirsty she-bear and start ripping heads off of innocent children?'' she asked with a laughing tone of sarcasm in her voice. I laughed along. I did not know what she had done to deserve being called those things, but I knew that whatever it was- she was intent on keeping it a secret. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''What about you Gendry, you must have secrets?'' she asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''What makes you think I have secrets?'' She laughed again, creating dimples in her cheeks. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Trust me, I know what it looks like when someone is keeping secrets, and it's written all over your face,'' she smiled, drained the cloth and calmly exited the room to get rid of the bloody water in the washing bowl. She didn't seem bothered at all, not even curious. She returned the bowl to its usual spot and turned to face me. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I should get back to the keep,'' she said with a slight grin and turned to walk to the door. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''And will you stay there this time?'' I asked quickly, not really wanting to say goodbye just yet. She looked over her shoulder and grinned at me. /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Maybe,'' she said before shutting the door behind her with a smile. I grinned./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''-probably not!'' I heard her shout from outside. I laughed loudly, shaking my style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p 


	7. Chapter 7: Lorraine

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Chapter 7: Lorraine/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Ouch! Does it need to be that tight?!'' I exclaimed as my Septa was pulling the string on the back of my dress. I could barely breathe in this monstrosity. It wasn't anything like the dresses that I had worn on Bear Island. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''This just came in from Queen Cersei Lorraine, as a gift for your engagement,'' my septa warned me as she was finishing the knot on my dress, ''-if only you would cut down on eating so much,'' she continued complaining. I ignored her last comment./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''That blonde incestuous witch? Oh please she's just a b-'' I started but was immediately cut off by my Septa. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Don't talk like that! Lord Marbrand is a Bannerman to the Lannisters, which means that you shut your mouth,'' she went on like the hag she is. I sighed and rolled my eyes. She made me spin a circle as she judged my dress and said that it would be perfect for dinner tomorrow. Lord Marbrand was hosting a dinner in his great hall in honour of our engagement. Which naturally meant that the bride-to-be had to attend as well. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''And you need to stop disappearing Lorraine. Someday Lord Marbrand is going to want to know where you go and it will not be good.'' I let all her complaining just wash over me and didn't respond anymore. It was useless anyways. That evening, after I had been released from that horrible dress, I fell asleep quickly. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"When my eyes closed in the real world, my eyes in the dream world opened. I smelled dirt, grass, trees. I was standing in front of a dark forest and the last rays of sunshine barely managed to shine through the trees. I knew the forest wasn't on Bear Island or in the North, the trees were different and it was too warm. The road ahead of me split two ways and I knew it was the Kingswood, just south of King's Landing. I heard some rustling in the bushes and was only just in time to see a stag dart away to the right. The Baratheon sigil. I decided to take the right road and made my way down the road, deeper into the forest. As I climbed over a huge tree that had apparently fallen on the middle of the road, I heard something else. It was a heavy breathing, very heavy. I recognized the sound immediately and turned around to see its black eyes staring back into mine. It started at me, it wasn't angry or curious. It just stood there as if it was waiting for me to do something. As I touched its fur I felt as close to a bear as I hadn't felt in years now. It was as if someone was staring back at me through those black eyes and as I tried to slip into its skin, everything around me disappeared. /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I woke up abruptly, breathing heavily. The bear, I was a bear. It was real, it had to be. I hadn't felt anything like this in a very long time, it couldn't just be a dream. I slipped out of bed, hurried to put my riding clothes on and climbed out of the tower once again. I sneaked past walls and doors in the dark, feeling like a shadow. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"At the stables, I stared at the gate. I would never be able to get back in again without help. It didn't take me long to pull up my hood, make for the forge and climb through the kitchen window. As quietly as possible I went into Gendry's room and covered his mouth before waking him up. His eyes shot open and he immediately reached for a knife that he had tucked away between his bed and the wall. I signed for him to be quiet and even though he seemed confused and angry at the same time, he didn't make a sound when I removed my hand from his mouth. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Not wanting to make a sound, I signed for the door, indicating that he had to come with me. He clearly understood that something was going on, and got out of bed to put some clothes on. I couldn't help but once again admiring his toned muscles and he found a shirt to put on. After he led me outside, closed the door, put on his boots and a sword, he finally talked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''What's going on?'' he hissed, seemed tired and concerned. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''You have to come with me, I need you,'' I said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him to the stables. I offered him one of the brown carrier horses, knowing that these wouldn't be missed as soon as the other ones. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''What for? This better be good,'' he muttered as he was getting on the horse, no idea of what was going on. I grabbed the reigns, nudged the horse and made for the gate which as usual, allowed people out at any time, but not in. Once we were out of the city walls, l nudged my horse into a gallop, making for the Kingswood. It didn't take Gendry long to catch up with me. We rode in silence for a while, not speaking at all- just riding. By the time we got closer to the forest he broke the silence./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Lorraine- seven hells, just tell me already,'' he breathed, seeming frustrated. I looked at him and then back at the road. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I had a dream,'' I muttered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''You what? Hold on- you dragged me out of bed, in the middle of the night, for a dream?!'' he shouted, looking at me like I was some lunatic. I sighed but didn't comment. We had finally reached the edge of the forest. I got off my horse and tied the reigns to a nearby tree. I looked at the exact some fork in the road that I had seen in the road./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''I've seen this place tonight, in my dream. We need to go right,'' I said decisively while Gendry was still sitting on top of his horse. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''We are not going into the forest. WE- are going back to the keep before Lord Marbrand will have my head off for this,'' he said. I kept on walking and turned into the right road./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Lorraine!'' he called after me but I kept on walking. I heard him curse to himself as he slid off his horse as well and tied it to the same tree as the other horse. I knew I had won, because he wouldn't leave me alone here, I had learned that from the day he helped me in that barfight./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''So what are we looking for your highness?'' he asked with an exhausted and annoyed tone in his voice. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''A tree, fallen on the middle of the roa-'' I said right before I saw it doom up in front of us from the dark. Gendry looked at me, dumbfounded. I smiled a little, turned towards him and gave him the I-told-you-so look. He shook his head in disbelief. There was a silence. In my dream the bear should've already been here, where was it? I started looking around, trying to see if I could see shining eyes through the bushes somewhere. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"In the distance, I could hear the whinny of one of the horses, soon followed by the other one. I didn't want to stop looking yet. Gendry got the message and announced that he would briefly check on the horses to see if everything was okay. I nodded and approached the trees to be able to look further on into the forest. As if on que I heard a loud roar, but it wasn't coming from the forest, but from further down the road. Gendry!/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I ran down the road, all the while cursing at myself for still not having a bow or sword. I was as useless as a whore without a cunt. One of the horses we took ran past me, further into the Kingswood. I looked back at it but decided that Gendry was my priority now. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Then I saw her again; the enormous brown she-bear, standing upright, towering over Gendry. The bear struck him with her claws, tearing open the entirety of his right sleeve. It didn't take long for blood to seep through the remains of his shirt. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"''Gendry, back away!'' I screamed as I almost reached the bear. No weapons, nothing. Gendry ignored my command and tried slashing the bear with his sword which proved near useless against such a tall creature. As I reached them, I threw Gendry aside onto the road and stood in front of this huge brown bear that was about to slash my skull to bits. The she-bear lifted her paw, now aiming for me, but right before she did I looked into her eyes and felt myself slip inside her skin. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The bear was fighting me, trying to push me back out again. I looked through her eyes and was overwhelmed by the sense of smell, hearing and seeing. It had been years since I had felt this way. I looked at Gendry who was frantically staring at my body that was laying on the ground, as useless as a doll. I brought down my two front paws till I was on four paws once more. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I smelled other animals; deer, squirrels, horses- and Gendry. He didn't speak but just stared at me in disbelief. I decided it was best to turn this bear around and get her as far from Gendry as I possibly could. I turned around and made for the cover of bush where I once experienced again what I had loved so much, not to be in my human skin anymore. After walking around and finding a river to eat fish, I could hear a distant voice. I knew it had to be Gendry. It was time to return, before I wouldn't be able to do so anymore. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"I slipped out of the bears skin, and back into mine. I felt my eyes roll back and saw Gendry who was bend over me with a panicked look on his face. /span/p 


End file.
